Turkey opposes Russian strikes in Syria

Turkey opposes Russian strikes in Syria

Ankara, alongside with Saudi Arabia, is trying to oppose Moscow in the fight against terrorism.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry had a tough talk with the Russian ambassador in Ankara Andrey Karlov. The reason was the violation of airspace by Russian aircraft in Turkey. According to official information, the incident occurred in the Hatay area October 3, 2015. Two Turkish jet-fighters F-16 intended to intercept the Russian aircraft.

The Turkish government expressed “strong protest” to the head of the Russian diplomatic mission, handed him a note and asked him to confirm that this would not happen again. Karlov was told that Russia would be responsible for any incident of violation of the Turkish border.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu called Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, to clarify the position of Moscow. Çavuşoğlu also called the colleagues from the USA, France, Italy and the UK to assess the situation. In the near future the Turkish minister will consult with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the head of German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the incident with the Russian ambassador in Turkey and the fact of the notes’ delivery. The Kremlin spokesman said that the Russian authorities would check the arguments of Ankara. Peskov urged not to escalate the situation, noting that the two countries have developed a “very complex” and strong relationship. The spokesman added that the emergency meeting of the presidents of the two countries was not expected.

Later a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Ankara Igor Mityakov said that Turkey was provided with an explanation for the incident. According to him, Moscow recognized the violation of Turkish airspace from the Syrian border in Hatay province Yayladağı.

Yesterday it became known that the Turkish president Tayyip Erdoğan threatened Russia to abandon the purchases of Russian gas if Russia continues to violate the airspace of Turkey while assisting Syria to fight terrorists.